Paris.... Oh la la! (Part I)

How do I feel about Paris??  Like this --

A (cracked out) picture to reflect my inner excitement about beautiful Paris.... I felt like this for the entire 3 nights we were there.  

If you have a limited time in Paris, I highly recommend the popular attractions, they truly don't disappoint.  And walking between them is great too, as you get to see a bit of the city and taste some delicious crepes (nutella and banana being my personal favorite).  We did all the obligatory things in Paris, we saw the Louvre... which means we saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, the glass pyramids, Ancient Egyptian art (borrowed) from the Egyptians... 

Here is the entrance to the Louvre.  We were lucky that although the line wrapped through the courtyard a little bit, it moved very quickly and we had our tickets within 40 minutes of entering the line.  

This might be one of my favorites...

We didn't spend too much time in the Louvre.  We saw many of the pieces that are called out on the map (aka the touristy ones) and made our way back out.  We were doing essentially the cliff notes version of the Louvre.  I believe I will try to make it to another wing the next time I go back.  We saw what we thought to be important within a couple of hours or maybe it was less.

Walking to the attractions is most of the fun.  You get to see the city from so many different angles.  This was in the Jardin des Tuileries, between the Place de la Concorde and the Louvre.  We stayed right off the Champs Elysees, so we did some window shopping for sure.

I didn't realize that Notre Dame was an ASU fan.

It always looks beautiful.  You can climb the bell tower (haven't done it) and I've heard the views are beautiful.  I prefer the pictures from the gothic flying buttresses along the back.  It makes it look so much more intriguing. 

The bridge I took this picture from is actually famous for being covered in locks.  Apparently if you take a lock and put it on this bridge, it will "lock your love forever" or something along those lines.  It turns out, that seems to be a very common theme in Europe, and if you don't have a lock, then anything you have on hand will do.... a bandana, a plastic bag, a napkin, literally anything that you have in your pocket.

Arc de Triomphe from the Eiffel Tower.  

You can buy your tickets in advance online and then the line isn't as long.  However, we found out that if you just don't go for a night view the lines go through pretty quickly.  You can buy a cheaper ticket to the 2nd level, for those scared of heights, or continue up to the sommet (top) for the same view, just higher.  But, you can buy a flute of champagne to sip at the top.  Fantastic!

We didn't make it to the Sacre Coeur on this trip, but it stands out on the skyline and is worth it if you aren't packing all of Paris into 3 days/3 nights.  

This is how I imagine I would spend my days if I were to be living in Paris.  This is right near the monument for where Princess Diana was killed.  I sat back and chilled on the wall while Katie took pictures, and tried to look as French as possible...

There is so much more to share and so much more that we did, but I wanted to send out a taste of what we saw and what we did.  I am already waiting for the moment where I can go back!!!